Eastwood Rugby Club
 |
|
| Full name | Eastwood District Rugby Union Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Woodies, Woods |
| Founded | 1947 |
| Location | Eastwood, Northern Suburbs/Hills District, Sydney, Australia |
| Ground(s) | T G Millner Field, Marsfield, New South Wales |
| Coach(es) |
Director of Rugby: John Manenti 1st Grade: Stu Woodhouse |
| Captain(s) | Jai Ayoub |
| League(s) | Sydney Rugby Union, Shute Shield |
| 2016 | 6th |
| Official website | |
| www |
|
Director of Rugby: John Manenti
Eastwood Rugby is a rugby union club playing in the Sydney Premier Rugby competition. The club is based at T G Millner Field, named in honour of its benefactor Colonel Tom Millner MC VD. The Club's players and supporters are primarily drawn from the Northern Suburbs and Hills District of Sydney. Eastwood's first Wallaby was J.G. Bain and its first test player was John Ballesty.
Rugby has been played in Eastwood since the latter part of the 19th century and although the club did not achieve first division status in Sydney until 1947 the district has a long Rugby history.
In the late 1890's a number of local sides existed playing at a variety of venues, the main one being Brush Farm. In the years leading up to the First World War, an Eastwood side played on an unfenced paddock bordering a dry creek bed (believed to be near May St) which was used to provide some privacy for players changing before and after the game.
With the outbreak of the Great War, senior Rugby was suspended with many of the players enlisting, a number paying the supreme sacrifice.
Following W.W.1, the strength of Rugby in Eastwood and in Epping was centred around the respective Young Men’s Institutes which fielded junior sides and a senior side in the Suburban Competition. This competition was next in importance to the Sydney district Competition. Eastwood won the Burke Cup in 1927, their first year of competition. Also in the 1920s the Club moved to Eastwood Oval as its home ground where the Club remained until their move to T G Millner Field in 1963.
Following success in the Burke Cup in 1935 and the existence of other strong sub-senior clubs in the area a momentum was building to seek admission by Eastwood into the Sydney Senior Competition.
The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 caused a deferral of this plan until 1946 when a successful application was made for inclusion in the Sydney Senior Competition from the beginning of the 1947 Season. As a result, the Eastwood District Rugby Union Football Club was formed and it has played in the Senior Sydney Competition ever since.
Due to the foresight of early administrators, the Club seized the opportunity in 1950 to purchase four a half acres of land at Eastwood. This was the beginning of what is now known as the T G Millner Complex.
...
Wikipedia